On Media

RNC seeks to limit debates, moderators

By DYLAN BYERS

12/11/2013 10:48 AM EST

The Republican National Committee is considering steps that would give it greater control over the 2016 primary debates, including the selection of moderators and the right to strip delegates from candidates who participate in non-sanctioned GOP debates.

The considerations are part of the RNC's larger plan to streamline the long and chaotic primary process, according to a new report from CNN's Peter Hamby. As part of that process, RNC members hope to "condense the nominating calendar, severely punish primary and caucus states that upend the agreed-upon voting order and potentially move the party's national convention to earlier in the summer, with late June emerging as the ideal target date," Hamby reports.

Discussions about condensing the debate calendar are also in the works: One proposal would see the RNC sanction "a small handful of debates while penalizing candidates who participate in any nonsanctioned GOP debate by stripping them of one-third of their delegates to the national convention."

Several RNC members have also expressed interest in sanctioning moderators, rather than leaving that decision to the television news networks and news outlets who host the debates.

"There is a definitely a consensus for Reince's objective to have less debates and have control over how and who we have run our debates, rather than just turning it over to X, Y or Z network and having a guy moderate who's going to just dog you for two hours," a Republican source told Hamby.

Last cycle, Republican primary candidates participated in 20 debates between May 2011 and Feb. 2012.